Dallas Stars Hit With Tough Injury News on Roope Hintz

Dallas Stars center Roope Hintz howls in pain on the ice

Roope Hintz's return to the Dallas Stars lineup lasted less than two periods. He was coming back Friday night from an illness that had kept him out of the previous four games. But he's now out for an extended period after an injury suffered in the second period of the Stars' 5-4 shootout loss to the Colorado Avalanche.

Closeup of the Roope Hintz injury. Nathan MacKinnon with what looks like a Judo-type sweep. pic.twitter.com/gblNY0ANno
— David Castillo (@DavidCastilloAC) March 7, 2026

Hintz suffered a lower-body injury while finishing a check against the boards, and he and Nathan MacKinnon got tied up and Hintz went down awkwardly. He had to be helped off the ice.

Gulutzan on Roope Hintz: “ He’s gonna miss some time.”

“He's got to go see another doctor, so we'll see how long that's gonna be.”

Said they’re hopeful Hintz can return for start of playoffs, and maybe even before, but “it’s gonna be a couple weeks for sure.”
— Robert Tiffin (@RobertTiffin) March 7, 2026

Head coach Glen Gulutzan said that Hintz will have it looked at by another doctor, and they're hopeful that he can return for the start of the playoffs, which doesn't sound great, as that's about six weeks away. A return before that is possible, but “it’s gonna be a couple weeks for sure," said Gulutzan.

The speedy, two-way center will certainly be missed by the Stars. He's registered 15 goals and 44 points in 53 games this season following four straight years in and around the 30-goal mark. He's winning faceoffs at an elite level (59.1%), and he's a key cog on both the power play and penalty killing units.

Dallas had its 10-game win streak snapped by the Avs in that game Friday night. The Stars hold just a two-point edge on the Minnesota Wild for second-place and home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Getting out of the Central Division this year will be a drag 'em out dogfight, and they'll hopefully have their top line center at full health by then.